Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Connecticut Wealth Management LLC

Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 51.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,453 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,540 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $390,630,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $297,915,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 18.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,180,016,000 after acquiring an additional 323,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 34.8% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,161,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $656,274,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $11.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $743.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,323,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,605,560. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $787.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $730.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $671.71. The company has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.